All-Natural Ways to Boost Your Mood

Everyone is entitled to a bad mood now and then, right? But we all know it is an un-motivating experience and it isn’t always easy to shake.

It’s best to think of your mood as something that needs to be maintained through healthy daily practices.

If you’re having a hard time keeping your mood elevated, your mind calm and your energy up, there are solutions. Along with a balanced diet and regular exercise, there are easy ways to change your lifestyle slightly and get big results when it comes to managing your mood. Here are four simple daily habits that you can develop to increase your serotonin levels and keep your mood and emotions in balance.

Start Your Day Right 

If you rush out the door in the morning, you may have noticed yourself feeling like you’re running in circles all day – like you just can’t catch up. How you spend your morning sets the tone for the rest of the day and evening. If you tend to run late in the mornings, try to give yourself more time to engage in a nurturing activity such as a 30-minute walk or 10 minutes of guided meditation. If you need more time to get grounded before your day-to-day life kicks in, start small and work your way up. It’s also very important to give yourself enough time to eat a light breakfast or drink a smoothie.

Sleep Well

Just as yoga and meditation can help you get energized and focused for the day ahead, they can also be practiced before bedtime as a way to relax your mind and body in preparation for a good night’s sleep. Other relaxing bedtime rituals may include a warm bath, self-massage such as foam rolling or simply stretching. Quality sleep and mental health go hand-in-hand. You simply can’t have one without the other. While we sleep, our brains perform vital restorative processes that help us maintain our energy levels and stabilize our moods.

Spend Time in Nature

An Association for Psychological Science study addressed Attention Restoration Theory (ART) by comparing nature and urban environments in terms of their restorative values and found that being in nature improved directed-attention abilities. In more simple terms: Nature clears your head as opposed to urban environments that overstimulate it. Anything that empties mental clutter will improve your mood.

Journal 

Humans think in disjointed segments rather than in complete thoughts. Throughout the day, our brains do their best to piece the segments together. But, by the end of the day, we can have quite a buildup of mental clamor. One way to organize and make sense of this buildup is to “connect the dots” of your mental clutter items by putting them down on paper. Not only does this ease the mind of holding on to confusion so strongly, it also provides a visual reference for gauging your emotions for that day.

Whether you’re struggling with your mood or just want to know how to keep it elevated, keep the tips above in mind! They’ll help you feel your best.